


my favorite thing to be (is yours)

by HearJessRoar



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Season 5 Spoilers, Self Indulgent Twaddle, canon couples as of s5 mostly just mentioned i just didnt want to blindside anyone, i can have a little entrapdak as a treat, this is a seamista fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar
Summary: It's not Princess Prom.War victory or not, some traditions stay traditions, and they've already decided that once every ten years is still a good allotment.But it is a ball, a ball that she is hosting, and Mermista is determined to look her best.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 362





	my favorite thing to be (is yours)

It's not Princess Prom. 

War victory or not, some traditions stay traditions, and they've already decided that once every ten years is still a good allotment.

But it is a ball, a ball that she is hosting, and Mermista is determined to look her best.

Her kingdom is in the process of rebuilding, and each day feels like both an achievement and a loss. Salineas will never be as it once was. But out her window, overlooking the new structures, the sun is setting in washes of pinks and orange, and it almost feels okay again.

She gives herself one last look in the mirror and tucks an errant lock of hair back into her chignon. If her outfit is more tealish blue than cerulean this time, well. She just wanted to meet her date halfway.

Her _date_. Mermista can't believe she's allowing herself to call him that again. She’ll never hear the end of it. Sea Hawk has been over the moon since she asked him to be her escort. He'd have been there anyway of course; he's an official Salineas ambassador now, as hilarious as that is. 

She still won't, _can't,_ say the words back to him, those words that shocked her out of her brainwashing for just one crucial second. But _this._

This she can give him freely.

Laughter is ringing high into the sky as it deepens to dark, velvety blue. Her friends are down there, somewhere. _Hordak_ is down there.

Her throat burns with the very thought. She hasn't forgiven him. She never will. Hordak lit her home aflame and basked in the ashes while her people fled.

But Entrapta is her friend. And Hordak has spent the last eight months tucked away in the Crypto Castle with her. He never offers an olive branch to any of them, and Entrapta claims that the tech she sends that has made rebuilding so much easier is her doing alone.

None of them believe her.

He's supposed to be sent to Beast Island next month to begin his punishment; cleanup duty, Hard Mode. Entrapta will be going with him at her own insistence. There is very little communication on Beast Island, and beyond checking in to make sure they're both still alive, no one anticipates hearing from Entrapta for the next few years. And Mermista will miss her, that weird little gremlin woman with her tiny food and excited squealing. She's probably the only other person on the planet who has as much difficulty as Mermista does when it comes to expressing just how much she cares.

So for tonight, she swallows her rage and her wrath and shoves it deep down into the biggest trench in her soul, because she likes Entrapta, and for some reason Entrapta loves Hordak. Mermista can deal with the tradeoff just to see her friend one last time.

She sighs through her nose and uncaps a lip gloss. Swipes it on, left to right, and eyeballs herself in the mirror. Wipes it off with the back of her hand and regrets it immediately.

She's still scrubbing at the shimmery smear when Sea Hawk knocks on her door. Mermista tells him to let himself in and gives up, deciding to lean into the look and grabs a little pot of cosmetic glitter.

Sea Hawk waits in the doorway, humming to himself as she swipes opalescent goop up her arms and across her exposed collarbone. It gives the suggestion of scales, certain slants of light turning it the same flickering teal as her tail. She dabs it carefully onto her cheekbones and then gestures Sea Hawk over.

He doesn't question her, just sits at Mermista's vanity with his eyes closed as she taps glittery fingerprints along the ridge of his cheeks.

She likes when they're matching, so sue her.

The fact that this marks him unmistakably as _hers_ is irrelevant.

Sea Hawk is looking criminally dashing in the outfit she helped him pick. The dark navy blue complements her dress and inwardly she applauds herself for her taste. They're going to look _so good_ walking in. The bangles on her wrists jingle together merrily as she daubs one last spot of iridescence to the hollow of Sea Hawk's throat. She screws the lid back onto the container and drops it carelessly into the mess on her vanity. 

When he opens his eyes she holds up two pairs of gold earrings. "Hoops or dangles?"

He chews on his bottom lip for a moment and taps his chin, eyebrow raised as he debates the merits of both. It’s one of the things she likes best about Sea Hawk, not that she’d ever tell him; he takes everything about her seriously, even when it’s something as inconsequential as what jewelry she wears.

He holds his hand out for the dangles, and she hands them over. Sea Hawk reaches up to undo one of his own earrings and slides hers into place. He flicks it, tests the weight in his earlobe.

"These ones," he says, moving to give it back to her. Mermista stops him and takes his usual earring out of his hand. She doesn't look at him as she sets his earring into her piercing, placing the other dangle into her opposite ear. The large hoops she swaps for a smaller set and puts them into her second piercing. She checks the look in her mirror and decides she likes it.

Sea Hawk is blushing and trying desperately not to put his foot in his mouth. "You know what Bow and Glimmer will say if we're sharing a set of earrings, dearest."

"And I'll say 'whatever,' and everyone will drop it like they always do," she waves his concerns off airily. And she can't help the way her mouth tugs up wolfishly as she continues. "Besides, we look hot like this and like, I want everyone to be jealous." 

She leans over him to set a shining cuff on the shell of his left ear. "You go on my arm, you better sparkle," she grumbles, and Sea Hawk _beams_ as he looks up at her. She really can’t take it when he does that. Half the time she swears she can see actual hearts in his eyes when he stares like that, and it is _disgusting_ and _she likes it so freakin’ much._

“Stop it.” she says, but her own smile is betraying her. Mermista can’t believe this stupid pirate has this effect on her face. It’s unfair and gross. She clears her throat and she knows she’s blushing and she’s mad about it. She examines her nails, freshly painted a twinkling gold, to avoid looking at him anymore. “Well? Escort me to the ball, you big geek.”

Sea Hawk lurches to his feet and pops off the dorkiest salute she’s ever seen, followed by offering his arm. Mermista rolls her eyes and takes it, her other hand sweeping her skirt off the floor so she can descend the stairs.

“Rumors abound tonight,” Sea Hawk says as they enter the grand ballroom. The packed crowd is awash in every shade of blue imaginable from the lighting. Her staff has done a magnificent job of decorating, and the buffet table is packed with all sorts of delicacies. This ball is open to every Etherian citizen who wants to attend. She doesn’t really believe in keeping out non-royalty, especially when her kingdom owes so much to the kindness of everyday people. It does mean that everyone has to be screened for weapons as they enter, so her security staff is working overtime at the gate.

It also conveniently meant that she wouldn’t have to sit on her throne and greet every person who came in. That would just be impossible. Funny how that worked out exactly the way she wanted.

“Meaning?”

Sea Hawk gestures towards the corner where several of their friends have gathered and they begin to work their way through the masses to join them. “I believe that the most pervasive hearsay is that our lovely Glimmer and Bow have a rather sudden engagement.”

Mermista stops short and halts him with her as they’re halfway through the crowd. She almost laughs, and even she isn’t sure if it’s out of surprise or hysteria. “Seriously? What else?”

He presses a sincere hand over his heart. “Now Mermista, you know I’m not one for idle gossip,” she raises an amused eyebrow at him. “But I believe I also have heard some chit chat about a certain pair of former Horde soldiers attempting to beat Glimmer to the altar.”

“Bright Moon’s about to see a double wedding, huh?” Mermista chews her lip. “The war really made all of us grow up way too fast.” She grips Sea Hawk’s arm, and he places his hand reassuringly over hers.

“It’s unsubstantiated, my dear. I’m sure they won’t rush anything. They have time now.”

“ _We_ have time now,” she mutters without thinking, and Sea Hawk practically glows. Her cheeks burn. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Absolutely not, I’m remembering it forever and you cannot stop me.”

She scoffs and barrels forward again, dragging him behind her as he laughs. As they approach, their friends ring off delighted greetings. She tries to act like she isn’t affected by it, but having so many people happy to see her is kind of overwhelming. Having friends is a lot, emotionally speaking.

“Mermista! This is all so gorgeous!” Glimmer exclaims, eyes shining. She looks the spitting image of her mother tonight, regal in a floor length lavender gown that shimmers pink as she moves. “I’ve never seen so many fish.” She points at the glass wall that provides a window into the vast ocean surrounding Salineas. Adora seems to agree, because she hasn’t taken her eyes off the giant squid that’s slowly making its way across the barrier.

Catra snaps her fingers under Adora’s nose and Adora bats her away, too entranced to do more than offer Mermista a mumbled “hey, great party.” Catra shrugs, almost apologetically, at her.

Who would have guessed that between Catra and Adora, _Catra_ was better with manners?

Adora’s cream colored dress offsets Catra’s deep red suit, and Mermista has to wonder if they picked out either outfit, or if Glimmer did it for them. They’re quite a hopeless pair, and it did not set anyone’s minds at ease to find out that Horde kids were just. Like That.

“Yeah, I wanted to kind of like, show that Salineas couldn’t be kept down, or whatever.” she brushes it off, but her heart is swelling with pride. She loves her kingdom, and she loves when other people get to see its beauty. Her hand is still set into the crook of Sea Hawk’s elbow and he sets his other hand atop hers again, giving her a look that says he knows just how thrilled she is to be receiving such praise.

From across the room, Perfuma catches her eye and waves, but she doesn’t move to come greet her. The fact that Scorpia is clearly in the middle of sampling the entire buffet probably has something to do with it, if the exasperated look Perfuma sends her is anything to go by.

Strains of music are beginning to drift above the general noise of the crowd, and Mermista suddenly remembers the one thing she did actually have to do tonight. She groans.

Glimmer is smirking at her because Glimmer knows exactly why she’s annoyed, and Glimmer is kind of a little bit evil. Normally, Mermista could respect that. Right now, it’s very unappreciated. She huffs through her nose.

“We have to go lead the first dance, and if you guys aren’t like, out on the floor exactly twenty seconds after we are, I’m banishing all of you,” she snaps, nails digging into Sea Hawk’s suit coat. “I don’t _do_ solo humiliation. This is a group activity now.” she continues, feeling embarrassingly flustered despite herself.

She lets Sea Hawk steer her to the dance floor. He’s clearly very excited; the only other time she ever sees him bounce as he walks is when he’s committing arson. And possibly that time he accidentally implicated her in insurance fraud. 

The expectant stares of the people around them are having quite the opposite effect on her, and Mermista feels her stomach flip. She doesn’t usually mind being the center of attention, but this is something that could potentially be mortifying if she messes it up, and that uncertainty is kind of killing her. Her unease and tension must be noticable, because Sea Hawk squeezes her hand.

“Don’t look at them, look at me,” he murmurs to her, letting go as they reach the center of the floor. He steps away to give the proper spacing between them to start their dance. The announcer prattles off something official, but Mermista isn’t listening. She’s too focused on Sea Hawk’s eyes and on not throwing up. The glitter she’d forced on him is twinkling cheerfully under the lights and it’s wonderfully distracting.

She stumbles immediately as the music begins but Sea Hawk doesn’t miss a beat, covering her mistake with a sweeping gesture that pulls her into his arms. This isn’t really what they had rehearsed, but that was fine, Mermista could roll with a waltz.

He spins her through the steps and she can relax as Bow and Glimmer flash past them in a whirlwind of manic dance energy. The pressure is off as more and more people join them on the floor.

She lets out a relieved breath, breaking their waltz to snake her arms around Sea Hawk’s neck. He rests his hands on her hips as they fall into a slow revolving shuffle. Mermista eyes him suspiciously. “You’re being like, shockingly non-bombastic tonight.” 

Entrapta goes spinning by with Wrong Hordak, neither of them the picture of grace but both laughing delightedly. She spots Actual Hordak on the edge of the dance floor, somehow _pouting_ in his (actually really cute) black dress. She decides she wants to know exactly _nothing_ about that whole situation, but she does very much want to talk to Entrapta later.

Sea Hawk swallows. “I don’t want to embarrass you.” he admits nervously, looking anywhere but her eyes. “I know how important this party is to you.”

And Mermista is touched, really. But he hasn’t tried to set anything on fire, or declared his love for her in increasingly loud shows of ridiculousness, or even started a shanty, and it’s _weirding her out._

So she smiles at him, and says something she just _knows_ she’s going to regret in about twenty minutes. 

“You can be a little bit more _you,_ you know. Like, I invited _Sea Hawk,_ not whoever it is you’re trying to be right now.”

And yes, she does regret it a little bit when the curtains are ruined from smoke damage later, and the buffet table is a complete loss after he takes ‘cherries flambe’ a bit too far. But Sea Hawk is a glittery, shimmery mess of apologies and boasting, and he’s still wearing her earring, and she’s still wearing his, and honestly? The entertainment value of keeping him around was well worth a couple of singed drapes.

**Author's Note:**

> idk man i just really like seamista they're good chaotic bicons and i can't write anything that isn't sickeningly sweet
> 
> my headcanon is that mermista is very slowly working on being not _nicer_ but like? less harsh. after the war is over and she doesn't have to be so guarded all the time. emotions are tough shes just a angry lil mermaid with so many repressed feelings and i love her
> 
> i haven't edited and i'm scared of this fandom so here take it
> 
> please let me know if you liked it i am so nervous


End file.
